


Prickly

by 21stCenturyHero



Category: Persona 2, Persona Series, Persona | Revelations Persona
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Plant Shopping, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 16:32:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16726947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/21stCenturyHero/pseuds/21stCenturyHero
Summary: Jun still has his doubts. Maki remembers something.





	Prickly

She watched the boy with certain awe as he furrowed his brown in deep concentration, trying to choose between the cactus or the succulent as if the plants were the most important thing in the world. Maki recognized that she was somehow responsible for the situation; she was forcing him out of his comfort zone after all, but for the beginning of his rehabilitation, she didn’t think it was wise to trust him with anything more killable than a water bear. The human heart was a fragile thing and she remembered all too well crying because a painting didn’t turn the way she wanted when she was young and trying to start again.

Maki sighed, forever amazed. This is what she wanted when she was a child, wasn’t it? Someone who went through same as she had, who could understand her. She just never thought that she would be the one helping instead of being helped. It felt fitting; poetic justice, you could say.

She left her gaze linger for another moment before allowing it to wander across the flower shop. She stopped to stare at Chronos, dutifully perched on top of a nearby shelf as he watched his other self take forever to make up his goddamn mind.

She couldn’t help but laugh.

Kurosu raised his eyes from the succulents, slightly startled. “What are you smiling at?” He asked, tilting his head a little to the right and with confusion written all over his face.

“Oh, sorry, it’s just…” she waved her hand around, looking for the proper words before giggling again. “I just remembered of something. Are you familiar with the Pandora’s Box, Kurosu-kun?”

“Just in passing.”

“Well, as the story goes, Pandora received a box full of gifts from the gods and was instructed to never open it, but her husband eventually coerced her into cracking it open,” Maki explained and frowned; it was weird to just… willingly bring those things up. But time passed in what seemed like a blink and the mistakes of her past didn’t haunt her as much nowadays. “In doing so, she unleashed all sorts of ill on mankind. However, Pandora managed to close the box just in time to capture a single spirit: a little bird called Hope.”

They both looked at Chronos at the same time, who made a soft clockwork noise at them. The woman chuckled and she could see with the corner of her eye Kurosu curving up so slight the corners of his mouth at her side.

Good, he was starting to smile more.

“The version I heard was different,” the boy said, shrugging and putting the succulent back on the shelf. “More depressing, I guess. Is this one ok?”

She nodded and took the cactus from him, inspecting it in case it was somehow damaged. “Well, it’s an old story,” Maki said while she rotated the little vase on her hands. “Not only the translation of a metaphor is never really complete, people tend to change stories and their meaning the entire time to suit their needs. It’s perfect, thank you.” She returned the plant to Kurosu, who held it close to his chest dutifully. “What will you name it?”

His mouth opened in a small ‘o’. “…Do I need to?”

“Well, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it’s good to name things you’re taking care of. Gives them a little of personality, don’t you think?”

The boy looked down, seemingly unsure. Maki should’ve anticipated that; names didn’t just give objects a personality, but something like personhood, too. She was entrusting him with great responsibility, even if it was just a plant. He poked one of the cactus’ thorns delicately so he wouldn’t hurt himself and lifted his eyes, hesitantly.

“So… how about Mary?”

Ah, she should’ve seen that coming. The woman smiled and nodded, satisfied.

“Mary it is, then.”

**Author's Note:**

> I would die for these two’s friendship.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: https://21stcenturyhero.tumblr.com/  
> On Twitter: https://twitter.com/21stcenturyher0/


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